County: Meath Site name: TRIM
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: —
Author: Mr. D. Sweetman, National Parks and Monuments Branch, Office of Public Works.
Site type: Castle - Anglo-Norman masonry castle
Period/Dating: Late Medieval (AD 1100-AD 1599)
ITM: E 680100m, N 756780m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.554826, -6.791115
The west section of the fosse yielded several coins of Edward III and some 14th-century French Jettons. The coins were found stratified in association with late 13th- and early 14th-century pottery.
Further areas close to the plinth of the keep were also investigated. These areas produced rows of postholes which were parallel to the plinth. The postholes were set into boulder clay. They appear to be the remains of a lean-to structure which pre-dated the building of the plinth. It was discovered that the plinth is an addition to the original keep and probably dates no earlier than 1247 because of the association of Ham Green pottery with the lean-to structure. The excavation revealed that after the completion of the plinth gravel was deposited against its side in order to cover up the foundations. A few sherds of Ham Green pottery which were found in the redeposited gravel which overlay the lean-to structure suggests that the structure was only occupied for a short period of time, while the keep was being restructured. Since the castle was made a demesne manor at the time that Geoffrey de Geneville occupied it in the 1240’s it is likely that he was responsible for the building of the plinth and the extension upwards of the keep itself.
The earliest material found at the site over the past four seasons has been the Ham Green pottery. This material is probably associated with the de Geneville era. No trace of a motte or early material has been found on the site.
